Lakers’ turnovers largely contribute to loss to Utah
Kobe Bryant threw his hands up in disgust. Pau Gasol pouted. Andrew Bynum simply shook his head.
Those were reactions to the Lakers’ 24 turnovers during their 103-99 loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday at Staples Center.
“It’s going to be hard to beat any team with unforced turnovers,†Lakers Coach Mike Brown said. “That was a big hindrance or concern for us.â€
The Lakers, who rank 21st in turnovers (15.38), had their worst statistical outing since committing 27 in a win Jan. 8 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Utah scored 24 points off those mistakes.
Both Brown and Bryant referred to the turnovers as “unforced.†Lakers guard Steve Blake blamed them on “bad passes.†And Bynum faulted his own apparent clumsiness.
“I was falling down all over the place,†said Bynum, whose five turnovers marred his team-leading 33 points on 12-of-14 shooting. “I fell on my face a couple of times. “
The Lakers committed 11 turnovers off passes. They lost the ball four times simply by fumbling it out of bounds. The Jazz forced three more miscues after throwing double teams in the post. The main offenders included Bryant (seven turnovers), Bynum (five) and Pau Gasol (five).
“They’re a team that reaches throughout 48 minutes and get away with a lot of stuff,†Gasol said of Utah. “They’re pretty consistent with that. Even though we knew they were going to do that, we still didn’t take care of the ball enough. Some passes were a little sloppy, but it was more our mistakes than what they did. “
The Lakers didn’t make any of those mistakes in the fourth quarter. But as Blake said, “It was too late.†At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers’ turnovers (nine) exceeded their field goals (six).
“It was one of those nights where we threw it all over the place,†Lakers guard Ramon Sessions said.
He wasn’t speaking for himself. Sessions, whom the Lakers acquired in trade from Cleveland last week, committed zero turnovers and dished out six assists in 18 minutes off the bench. Seventeen of the Lakers’ 24 turnovers happened when Blake played at point guard. He turned the ball over twice.
Despite all the varying reasons for the team’s sloppiness, the Lakers simply expressed hope it won’t happen again.
“We’ll forget about it,†Blake said, “and move on.â€
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